Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Nobody here but us servantless American cooks...thanks to Julie Powell


Yesterday my gorgeous Mother and I kept a date we had made with each other at least a month ago. We hopped off to see Julie & Julia. Delightful. Not only because it was a Monday and we were at a matinee together!

The numerous criticisms of the "Julie" part of the film were a bum rap. Who, I mean really think this through, who could compare or compete with Meryl Streep channeling Julia Child at her most delicious in Paris in love with Paul Child and with food? No one.

That said, I adore Amy Adams. If you have not seen Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day you have missed a scrumptiously effervescent performance. I can't think of another actor who could bring Delysia Lafosse so exquisitely to life. It looked effortless. A bubbly, pink confection of yum.

Also, I am here to tell you that those "cobb salad lunch" pals exist in all of our lives, as if you didn't know dear reader. Score-keeping and it's squirm-inducing paranoia have spurred on many a genius (and not too few average types too). Ms. Adams did her real-life alter-ego proud I am sure (Julie Powell says so in her new blog What Could Happen? ). In the film, I especially love the melt-down in the kitchen as she attempts to stuff a chicken with a cream cheese-based stuffing. Oh! And the lobster killing session accompanied by the Talking Heads Psycho Killer. Fabulous! Go see it now! And then read Julia Child's My Life in France .

After the film, we nipped over to Costco for a roasted chicken, dog food by the ton, and organic, fair trade coffee. There we also picked up the aforementioned book to share. Because, as previously mentioned, I am a spoiled child, I get to read it first. Once I've savored every word, I may just tackle the epic biography Appetite for Life. What a title! What a woman!

I appreciate Julie's Julie/Julia Project blog for so many reasons, chief among them being that she reminded me of a childhood spent enthralled with Julia Child. A great deal of my imaginary play centered on creating foods for my own television show inspired by Mother-approved public television viewing (the only tv allowed in our household except Friday night Star Trek and an early hour of Saturday morning cartoons- hello Sid and Marty Krofft!- before it was time to "Go outside and Play!"-the maternal mantra of my youth).

Mimicking Julia, I would instruct my audience in the fine art of making chocolate milk with red hots or dirt and rock pies, green grass salads with sorrel and dandelions scavenged from the yard, and once, ably assisted by my lovely sous-chef and brother John-John, a fantastic, blue soup concocted from the contents of my Father's medicine chest.

Julia Child, Graham Kerr, and later Bob Ross (say Thalo Blue with me in the softest, most reverant voice ever folks) and Nancy Zieman (I never feared zippers again Nancy!) helped form me into a maker of things. Bless them and bless PBS and viewers like you for bringing them to me.

Gotta fly! Baking with Julia is on Create right now and then I'm off to attempt Posie's Cherry Clafoutis as promised.

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